Further development of the euro banknote designs

On 13 December 1996 the draft design series chosen by the EMI Council for the seven denominations in the euro banknote series were published. As explained at the time, it is standard procedure to adjust and refine such design sketches before they are fully suitable for origination and printing.

In line with the timetable, the modifications to the main design features have been made. In particular, the architectural features have been amended with a view to avoiding any obvious references to existing structures. For security reasons, the illustrations of the designs which are now available do not show all the details and security features that will ultimately be incorporated into the euro banknotes. The final banknote designs will thus differ from these sketches in several respects.

The designs will now form the basis of further technical work which will enable the ESCB to put the euro banknotes into circulation by 1 January 2002, at the latest.